US - Stop Upend Rule of Law With a Military Detention System

March 4, 2012 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Re: US: Stop upend rule of law with a military detention system Dear President Obama: I am writ ing to you regarding the detentio n facil ity at Guant anamo Bay to urge you to reaffir m your stated commitment to closing Guantanamo by prosecuting detainees in federal court and repatriating and resettling those who will not be prosecuted. I am deeply disappointed that you chose to sign into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) despite your administration’s repeated threats to veto the bill if it contained detention provisions detrimental to the rule of law and US national security. The new law represents a complete rejection of the vision you outlined for counterterrorism policy when you took office. The final version of the bill, while amended slightly, seeks to upend the effective use of law enforcement for countering terrorism and replace it with a military detention system. Your signing statement appended to the bill noted a number of deeply problematic areas which you have committed to interpreting in a manner that avoids constitutional conflicts and complies with the laws of war. Yet those problematic areas are the very reason you should have vetoed the bill, and why you must make repeal of those provisions a top priority for your administration this year. As long as the NDAA remains a part of US law, it can be used by future administrations to detai n peopl e indefi nitel y even in circumstances your admini stra tion has disavo wed. Whil e working towards this goal, I urge you to interpret the provisions in a manner consistent with international human rights and humanitarian law, and to exercise your discretionary powers to use civilian law enforcement tools to prosecute terrorism suspects. I recognize that repeal may b e difficult. Nevertheless, we believe the strong b ipartisan oppositi on to the detention provisions of the NDAA made clear that key members of Congress will support any efforts to repeal those provisions that are inconsistent with US values and the rule of law. Your National Security Strategy explicitly recognizes that the United States’ “moral leadership is gr ounded pr in ci pa ll y in the po wer of [i ts ] exampl e. ”[ 1] Your Na ti onal St rate gy for Counte rterro ris m rec ogni zes the impor tance of adhering to US core val ues whi le fig hti ng terrorism, including through the respect for human rights. As the strategy eloquently outlined,

US - Stop Upend Rule of Law With a Military Detention System

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